President Trump’s Thursday summit about video games and violence will probably achieve no concrete policy goals or further public safety. And while we don’t know what tone the meeting will take, we can hazard a guess based on who’s showing up and the fact it is intended to discuss “violent video-game exposure and the correlation to aggression and desensitization in children.” Here are the invitees (some might be referred to as “experts”) who Donald Trump has summoned to explain video games to him.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida)
Rubio doesn’t seem to have much of an opinion on video games, but Parkland, of course, is part of the state he represents, and he’ll presumably be there to keep their concerns front and center. (It’s not clear whether Rubio will actually attend.)
Representative Vicky Hartzler (R-Missouri)
Hartzler, elected in 2011, holds typical views for the GOP. After Sandy Hook, she put out a newsletter stating guns shouldn’t be legislated and has said in the past she believes video games cause children to be more violent.
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take Two Entertainment
Take Two, which pioneered open-world shooters like the Grand Theft Auto series and the Mafia series, is a long, long veteran of this fight. Notably, Zelnick was the repeated unwilling foil of anti-video-game crusader Jack Thompson, whose behavior in Florida courts became so obnoxious and erratic, and his attempts to use the court to harass various video game executives including Zelnick so repeated, the state bar took the unusual step of disbarring him. Thompson has not been confirmed to be attending the meeting.
L. Brent Bozell III, Media Research Center
If the name sounds familiar, this clip is probably why:
Bozell is part of a right-wing political dynasty, which is why he’s back; he’s William F. Buckley’s nephew and son of influential conservative L. Brent Bozell II. When he’s not getting himself in trouble on air, Bozell is one of the most vocal advocates for censorship in American politics. He’s well known to wrestling fans for having to pay the WWE $3.5 million and apologize for claiming that imitating a wrestling move had killed a child. Bozell is also part of the chorus attempting to blame video games for the Sandy Hook murders.
Representative Martha Roby (R-Alabama)
Roby holds similar reviews to Hartzler, but doesn’t appear to have a particular opinion about video games, making her a curious addition.
Lt. Col. David Grossman (Ret)
Grossman, a professor of military science, has long campaigned against video games. He’s argued that video games use the same training techniques as militaries, as part of his work advocating for a better understanding of the psychological function of homicide and military violence, which he calls “killology.”
The flipside of that work is his police training, which is distinctly at odds with his seeming concerns about violence in video games. Grossman got in trouble for a moment in the documentary Do Not Resist, where Grossman informs a room full of police officers that after they kill somebody, they will have “the best sex of their lives.” A Washington Post profile of Grossman details his worldview:
“When it comes to teaching cops how to escalate, how to see the world as their enemy and how to find the courage to kill more people, more often, there’s no shortage of options. (The syllabus for one of these courses includes a page of Bible verses relating to when it’s moral and just to kill.)… I’ve spoken to more than a few sheriffs and police chiefs who want no part of this philosophy, but who also say they can’t really control what their officers do on their own time.”
Patricia Vance, President of the Entertainment Software Rating Board
A former Disney executive, Vance heads up the video game industry’s self-regulation and ratings body, the ESRB. Oddly, Mrs. Vance is misgendered in the White House’s press release.
Mike Gallagher, President and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association
Head of the video game industry’s lobbying group, Gallagher also serves as the game industry’s public face.
Robert Altman, Chairman And CEO of Zenimax Media
Altman’s presence, representing DC-area game developer Bethesda, would be logical in the first place, especially as it publishes the distinctly anti-Nazi Wolfenstein games. But there’s an added feature here; Trump’s reclusive brother, Robert Trump, sits on the company’s board. The President’s brother is reportedly attending, as well.
Melissa Henson, Mother from the Parents Television Council
Yes, that is Henson’s given title. Oddly, the PTC was founded by L. Brent Bozell III, and yet this connection isn’t mentioned. Henson appears mostly to write blog posts for the advocacy organization.
So, there you have it. We’ll see what they have to say.